"We do not forgive your arrogance"

One of Russia’s most powerful journalists, after the election victory of Vladimir Putin, responded to the West in a series of statements. An excerpt. By Margarita Simonyan

The West should not have been shocked at Putin’s almost 77 percent, but because 95 percent of Russia supported conservative-patriotic, communist, and nationalist ideas in the election, there remained for the liberal ideas only the nugatory five percent.

And it’s your fault, my Western friends. You yourself tuned in our “Russians Never Surrender” channel.

I’ve been telling you long since, at last find normal Russia consultants, and chase out the parasites.

And now you’ve made sure we do not respect you any more – with your short – sighted sanctions, the heartless humiliation of our athletes (including the disabled), your Skripals, with that demonstrative indifference to basic liberal values like presumption of innocence … your attacks of mass hysteria, which can only bring relief to any sane person living in Russia rather than in Hollywood; with your confusion after the elections – be it in the US or in Germany or in the Brexit zone – with your incitements against RT (formerly Russia Today, ed.), whom you can not forgive for taking advantage of your freedom of speech and demonstrating to the whole world that one had better not use it, and that it was not invented for use but for ornamentation (…) — the injustice, wickedness, hypocrisies, and lies have led to the point that we do not respect you anymore. You and your so-called values.

We do not want to go on living like you do. For about 50 years, secretly or openly, we wanted to live like you, but not anymore.

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We have no more respect for you. Nor all those among us that you support and who support you. I.e, your sought-after five percent.

And you are responsible for that yourself: Western politicians, analysts, scribes and intelligence agents.

Our people can forgive many things, but just like anyone else, we do not forgive arrogance.

The only empire that is left on your side would do well to study the history of its allies, all of the former empires, and how they have been ruined. Exclusively on account of imperial arrogance. The White Man’s Burden – that I do not laugh! But the only empire you have left has no respect for history. And that’s why everything will come to an end, as always.

You have made us join forces behind your foe. As soon as you declared him your enemy, we immediately united.

He used to be just our president, that could be interchanged.

Now he is our leader. And we will not allow it to happen for him to be replaced. You’ve taken care of that yourself.

You yourself have ensured that in our country patriotism is now considered contrary to liberalism, although these concepts are not mutually exclusive. You led us, in this false dilemma, to choose patriotism.